


Forgiveness Through Giving

by MyDreamsToYou



Series: And one thing lead to another [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: F/M, M/M, implied relationship Rude/Reno, set after Dirge of Cerberus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-11
Updated: 2013-06-11
Packaged: 2017-12-14 14:57:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/838180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyDreamsToYou/pseuds/MyDreamsToYou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I realize that my company has wronged you but--" “Your company ruined me, ShinRa. You ruined my life.” It started out as a plea for forgiveness, but it led to so much more than that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forgiveness Through Giving

Sitting at a desk on the top floor of the newly established ShinRa building, was Rufus ShinRa himself. He had his hands folded in front of him, laying on the hard surface of his desk.

This was not an uncommon site for the pristine young man; he was the president of the company after all. However, a weary yet thoughtful one replaced the usual smug expression that graced his features.

"Sir, Reno and Rude have left for 7th Heaven upon your request." Tseng's voice came from the doorway of Rufus' office.

Rufus looked up to see his head Turk walking towards him with a steady pace. He made sure that he wore a composed expression instead of the weary one from before.

"Thank you." He said as he got up from his chair and turned towards the large window that overlooked the city of Edge. Rufus could see the other buildings starting to be restored from the incident with the Remnants.

He had readily paid for the damages caused by them in hopes of gaining favor of the city and a particular delivery boy. Feeling an itch at the back of his neck, he spoke.

"Ask your question, Tseng. You would have left by now if you did not have one." Rufus felt the dark haired man's intense gaze on the back of his head and struggled to hear the almost silent footsteps as Tseng approached him. Once he was a precise step behind the president, he began to speak.

"Why were they sent to 7th Heaven so early in the morning, sir?" His head Turk questioned softly.

Ignoring the question for now, Rufus turned his head slightly to grin at Tseng.

"What do you see when you look out this window, Tseng?" He asked as he nodded his head towards Edge.

Tseng was contemplating for a few moments before he felt ready to answer.

"A new beginning, sir, for those that need it."

"Of course the citizens of Edge need it. Yet, if you could chose who deserved a new beginning more than anyone, who would you chose?" Rufus' eyes sparkled in glee as he regarded the other man.

Unaffected by his boss's behavior, Tseng kept an emotionless mask on his face as he chose to remain quiet. Lips curling slowly into a small smirk at the reaction or lack there of, Rufus decided to continue.

"Would you disagree when I say that my company owes Cloud Strife more than anyone else?" Silence.

"The reason why I sent Reno and Rude over there is to help Strife with his delivery business." Rufus exclaimed. Tseng's eyebrows shot up, as he looked at the boy he guarded for years, in bewilderment.

The look on his face clearly stated that the ex-Soldier would not even _consider_ ShinRa's help, much less from people like Reno. Meanwhile, the blond haired man looked much better than he had earlier, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. That and the expression on his usually calm and collected Turk's face was priceless.

"Sir," Tseng's voice started a bit hesitantly.

Rufus just waved his hand flippantly at his Turk to cut him off.

"Yes, yes. I know. But how could our hero say no to such a wonderful offer?"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

"No." Cloud's firm voice sounded as he pushed past Reno and his partner Rude. The red headed Turk quickly followed Cloud's fast-paced walk and called after him.

"Come on! We got up extra early to help your ass. The least you can do is accept it."

Rude wisely decided to stay silent but he kept up to the quick pace of both his partner and the spiky haired man.

"I said no. It's not my fault you woke up feeling generous this morning." Cloud grunted as he began to load some packages on to Fenrir. Reno scoffed at the comment as he leaned on the front of the bike.

"Me? Wake up generous? You wish. I had to wake up early this morning because the boss man ordered my ass to help you. Trying to make up for what he's done, ya know?"

"You're not exactly succeeding in making me want you guys to help. The fact that ShinRa is behind this at all is turning me away from any help, especially from you." He calmly replied before eyeing Reno in distaste.

"Get off the bike."

Reno rolled his eyes but got off the bike and held his hands up in an 'I surrender' gesture. Cloud packed the rest of the packages for the day and swung his leg over so that he straddled his bike.

"You sure you don't require our assistance?" Rude spoke up for the first time.

"Yeah," The spiky haired man pulled down his goggles while Reno was huffing behind his partner. Turning towards the two Turks, Cloud gave them a hard look.

"Tell ShinRa to leave me the hell alone."

Before either one of them could reply, Cloud sped off into the streets of Edge, heading only to where God knew where.

Reno sighed as he kicked some pebbles on the sidewalk while Rude just pushed his shades closer to his face. Looking over at his partner, Reno shoved his hands into his pockets and headed towards the ShinRa building.

"Let's go. No point in just sitting around waiting for Mr. Stick-Up-His-Ass to come back."

Rude nodded and followed his red haired companion reluctantly as he knew their boss was not going to be too thrilled by their news.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 

"I see." Rufus said coolly as he thought over what Reno and Rude just reported to him.

"He didn't accept the help?"

"Nope." Reno chimed as he fidgeted in front of his boss impatiently.

Today was suppose to be his day off but was taken away when he got a phone call from Rufus the night before telling him his and Rude's 'mission'.

"I'm not that surprised. Not at all." The president mused aloud before turning to Tseng who was standing silently beside him.

"Go back tomorrow, preferably before Strife leaves and offer him a place within ShinRa instead. We will pay him any wage he asks for and he can pick his hours. Dismissed."

Tseng nodded and briskly walked out in front of his co-workers in hopes of getting to his office quickly so that he could finish his paperwork for the day.

"Wonder why the boss is so determined to help Strife." He heard Reno remark casually as him and Rude headed the opposite way.

"Perhaps to make up for what the company did. He's helping the Planet but what about the person the company did the most wrong to?" Rude replied thoughtfully.

You do not know how right you are, Rude, or how close. Tseng thought as he came to his office door. He opened it, entered and shut the door softly so not as to draw unwanted attention.Tseng had noticed Rufus' odd obsession with Strife recently and how he strived to win the younger man's forgiveness. I do not believe even Rufus truly knows why. The dark haired man sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a stressful day so he might as well finish the rest of his paperwork tonight so that he could relax the rest of his day tomorrow. 

Early the next morning, Tseng headed out to 7th Heaven in hopes of catching Cloud about to leave for his daily deliveries. He was in luck for said man just walked out of the bar and was heading towards Fenrir. The mako-eyed man took notice of Tseng and nodded his head in greeting.

"I suppose you are going to offer your help? The answer is still no." 

__Tseng shook his head negatively and approached Cloud._ _

__"I am here to offer you a position within ShinRa, courtesy of the president himself." He said formally but looked at the other with sympathetic eyes as he saw the looked of irritation._ _

__"No." With a sense of déja vu, Cloud got on his bike once again but he had a question for the Wutainese descendant._ _

__"Why is ShinRa bugging me now? We don't have any more remnants do we?"_ _

__Tseng was silent as he thought of a good enough answer for Cloud._ _

__"He wants forgiveness," He admitted softly._ _

__"He has already helped the Planet as much as he can but believes that the company did more damage to you than anyone else. He wishes to rectify that if you--."_ _

__"I don't care." The blond interrupted._ _

__"Why would I go back to the company that made my life hell in the first place, only to get rid of the guilt ShinRa feels? Tell him to welcome to the real world. Have a nice day."_ _

__Cloud turned on his bike and reveled in the roaring sound it made. It made him feel alive after all those years of just existing when his adventure with AVALANCHE was over._ _

__"Very well, I bid you good day." Tseng replied. He gave the younger man a nod and turned to go back to ShinRa._ _

__Cloud watched after the Turk with a blank expression. He wasn't too sure on what to make of the man but he wasn't as loud mouthed as Reno or as awkward as Rude so that made his opinion of him a bit higher than the rest of the Turks. Cloud sighed. Why did he bother to even place them? Rolling his head, he made Fenrir roar a couple times before he headed off towards Junon._ _

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _

__

__"Strife still said no?" Rufus asked with a hint of annoyance in his normally calm voice._ _

__"That is correct, sir." Tseng replied sounding bored, as if he had gone over this fact many times. The president frowned as he looked back at his head Turk._ _

__"Then I guess I am going to have to go over there personally." He concluded._ _

__"What time did you mention that he is usually back?"_ _

__"Around six p.m., sir. However, today Miss Lockhart informed me when I called, that Strife will be coming home early as he is only heading to Junon for three deliveries and will be back around two p.m.."_ _

__"Perfect." Rufus replied and his lips curved into a satisfied smirk._ _

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _

__

__Cloud stretched a bit as he got off his bike. He thought that only having three deliveries would be easy but he had a problem with his last customer. He had pulled up to a quaint little home where when he knocked, a sweet old woman answered the door. However, when he went to hand her the package, she thought he was making an advance on her and began to hit Cloud with her cane._ _

__Cloud could have easily taken her out or stopped her in the very least, but he didn't have the heart to push the old woman away who claimed she was defending her honor. Instead, he stood there and took the hard hits (how a fragile elder could do that he would never know) and when she wore out, he set the package down at the doorsteps and took off after muttering a quick 'thank you' to her._ _

__Therefore, when Cloud opened the door to the bar, it didn't make him any happier to met with the site of Rufus ShinRa sitting at a table looking at him expectantly with a glass of red wine in his hands. He sighed and trudged over to the president reluctantly and should have realized that soon or later the ambitious man would come to him. After sliding in the booth, Cloud stared at Rufus with a slight frown._ _

__"What do you want?"_ _

__Rufus took a slow, delicate sip of his red wine without breaking eye contact with Cloud. This, for some reason, made the hero more agitated than he was before._ _

__"What I want, Cloud, is to know what I can personally do to gain your forgiveness for all that my company did to you." He replied simply as he leaned forward to get a better look at Cloud._ _

__The Planet's hero just stared back and gave a frustrated sigh._ _

__"When are you going to learn that there is nothing you can do? Your company," He said the last word vehemently._ _

__"Took away four years of Zack's life and mine then you permanently took away the only person who bothered to care for me during those years. But you didn't stop there, oh no, in fact while I tried to live my life and his out, you attempted to take away that also!"_ _

__Cloud was breathing heavily by now and had both of his hands on the table as he glared furiously at the calm and collected president._ _

__"You kidnapped my friends and after two blissful years of thinking you were dead, you came back like the filthy cockroach you are and asked for me to protect you from those Jenova worshipping freaks!"_ _

__"I realize that my company has wronged you but--"_ _

__"Your company _ruined_ me, ShinRa. You ruined my life." Cloud intervened snappishly._ _

__It was silent for the next couple minutes except for the heavy breathing from Cloud that slowed down with each second that passed by. Rufus gently put down his glass of wine, as if afraid to make any noise in case it would set off Cloud, and got up from his seat._ _

__"I will take my leave then." He said and walked steadily towards the doors, not glancing back at the scene he left behind him._ _

__A scene that held the Planet's savior holding his head in his shaking hands, trying to hold back the sobs as he thought of his fallen comrade._ _

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _

__

___There is more damage there than I thought._ Rufus mused cynically to himself as he paced his office in thought. Nevertheless, what could he do to fix the damage his company had done to Strife? Strife had mentioned Zack Fair in his rant. Rufus remembered being informed by his Turks that Zack Fair had been dear to the blond as he helped them both escape the labs. He also remembered how Cloud could not forgive himself for living instead of Zack and blamed himself for Aerith's—_ _

__Rufus stopped pacing and interrupted his train of thought. Slowly, a small smile appeared on the young president's face. He just came up with an idea that would, in time, make Cloud Strife happy and possibly forgive most of the things that Rufus had done to him. _Yes,_ He thought gleefully as he phoned Tseng urgently, _I am the only person on this Planet that could make this possible. I may have ruined you Cloud,_ Rufus continued to think as Tseng answered with a crisp 'yes sir?', _but I will be the one to make you happy again.__ _

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _

__

__Cloud sighed happily. His week had been a good one since there were no interruptions from ShinRa and no disgruntled customers. His happiness, however, was short lived when a certain teenaged ninja decided to visit from the new WRO headquarters._ _

__"Heya Cloud!" Yuffie chirped as she bounced towards him happily._ _

__"Hello, Yuffie." Cloud replied in a monotone voice as he tried to inch away from the hyperactive girl._ _

__He was unsuccessful when she decided to cling to his arm as if he was a piece of candy. _Heaven forbid she has anymore._ The spiky haired man thought while trying to shake the parasite off his arm._ _

__"Cloud, you have a package!" _Ah, saved by Tifa. Thank you.__ _

__"I'm coming!" Cloud quickly got the parasite off his arm and headed towards the front of the bar where his childhood friend was holding a medium sized box._ _

__"It doesn't say who it's from." The dark haired woman offered as she handed the box to Cloud._ _

__He looked it over and after flipping it a few times, he deemed the questionable box as safe. Cloud walked over to the kitchen where he pulled out a knife from the top drawer and expertly guided the knife along the edges of the packaging tape. Once he finished cutting, he carelessly opened the box and stared inside._ _

__Cloud looked at the box's contents with a hard expression._ _

__"What is it Cloud?" Tifa's voice came from the kitchen doorway._ _

__She walked over to her friend and peered inside the box with him. Eyes widening in shock she looked from Cloud's hard expression to the objects that were inside._ _

__"Cloud…who would send you this?" She asked slowly and quietly so that Yuffie would not hear them._ _

__The man did not answer but instead grabbed the box and trudged outside the kitchen looking for the very girl Tifa was trying to be quiet from. Sure enough, the self proclaimed 'White Rose' of Wutai was not very far and seemed to be entertaining herself by trying to teach Denzel some fighting moves._ _

__"If you ever want to be as ninja as me, you have to follow my every order!"_ _

__The word 'teach' was used lightly. Perhaps dictate was a better choice of a word._ _

__Cloud headed determinedly towards Yuffie and shoved the box into her hands, ignoring the childish call of 'hey!' that sprouted from her mouth._ _

__"What's your big idea?! You can't just throw things at me and expect me to—"_ _

__"Look in the box." Were Cloud's only words as he left the bar and headed up the stairs._ _

__After hearing the audible 'click' of the door from upstairs, Yuffie opened the box curiously and looked inside. Eyes brightening with a childish glee, she scooped up twelve glowing orbs that held the signs of fully mastered materia, fully ignoring the piece of paper that was inside and that bore the ShinRa insignia._ _

__It had been a couple of days since Cloud had received the materia from Rufus and had since calmed a bit. Now he was riding Fenrir to the Golden Saucer to drop off some medium sized package that was labeled, FRAGILE. He didn't particularly care what was in it as it wasn't any of his business and he was getting paid extra if he brought the package within a day._ _

__Seeing as how the Golden Saucer was quite a ways from Edge, Cloud left at about three in the morning after he shoved a bagel down his throat. It was around the afternoon when he got a surprise call from Cid. Why he answered his phone at all was a mystery._ _

__"Hello." He answered. Immediately the other man began to talk in his roughed up voice._ _

__"Hey ya! Did ya see th' news? Tha' ShinRa brat is apologizin' on air! Live!"_ _

__Cloud furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. _Why would he apologize now out of all times? Didn't he have a couple years to do that already?__ _

__"For what?" He asked as he made a turn down another street._ _

__"To ya! About every'ing tha' he and his pig o' a father did to ya and your friend."_ _

__"That's nice." He said in disinterest. _ShinRa had the chance to say it to my face when we were talking a couple weeks ago.__ _

__"I have to go, Cid." Cloud hung up the phone despite the swearing and protest that came from the other man. So, ShinRa was trying to make it up to him. Well, Cloud didn't care. It was about time that the president felt the guilt of all he and his father had done to the Planet._ _

___Why isn't Rufus focusing more on the Planet? Why me? The Planet is more important than I am anyway and people are still angry with him. If he wants forgiveness at all the whole planet should be his top concern._ He thought as he stopped in front of the Golden Saucer where a fat man was waddling out towards him with a thankful expression on his face._ _

___Maybe he's finally changing? Cloud quickly threw away that thought from his mind. Rufus ShinRa was just trying to play the pity game and use Cloud for his own advances. If he gained Cloud's forgiveness, the rest of the planet would follow. The blond haired man mentally sneered at the thought while he plastered on a fake smile towards the fat man that introduced himself as Jacques._ _ _

___Meanwhile, the next day had Rufus frustrated. First, he was asked by Reeve how Yuffie gotten twelve mastered materia and he didn't know how to answer that. Of course, he had an _idea_ how that brat gotten it but refused to tell Reeve that he was somewhat responsible for causing one of the WRO data rooms to explode._ _ _

___After that when he had spent countless hours writing a public apology to the planet's savior that was to air live, he was kindly informed by Tseng _after_ the conference that Cloud Strife would not have seen the public apology because he was busy on the road trying to meet a deadline for a customer._ _ _

___So it was understandable when Tseng entered his boss's office, he found the president with a sour look on his face looking ready to throw a tantrum. Luckily, for Tseng, he knew that Rufus was too proud to do such a thing anymore._ _ _

___"Perhaps you should try going on to the plan we talked about earlier this week, sir." He suggested lightly._ _ _

___Rufus scowled at his head Turk._ _ _

___"When," He drawled. "Do you suppose I do that?"_ _ _

___"It may be wise to start as soon as possible, sir. We are close to accomplishing the tasks you assigned us." Tseng replied vaguely._ _ _

___The young president narrowed his eyebrows in thought. He had his Turks searching for certain items, which included the mastered materia, but also included some other things of sentimental value._ _ _

___"Tseng," He started as his lips curled into a smirk. "Have the other Turks continue their work. I want you to do a specific job that should be quite simple." Rapidly he started to bark out orders that left the dark haired man surprised, if not a bit confused. However, when Rufus was done, he allowed a soft smile to grace his usual stoic features._ _ _

___"It will be done, sir. I will inform the rest of the Turks of their duties as well."_ _ _

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _

___ _

___Elena shifted nervously with a gift bag in front of 7th Heaven, looking at the door as if it was going to attack her. Why, oh why, did she have to be the one for this mission? Surely, Reno or Rude could have done it? Tseng had been gone for a few days so he couldn't have done it but it was obvious that Reno had nothing better to do than eat all of Rude's donuts._ _ _

___She sighed and puffed out her chest a bit like a bird and attempted to walk inside the bar like the Turk she knew she was. However, it was rather hard when her first sight, when she went through the doors, was one of a pair of angry Mako blue eyes glaring directly towards her._ _ _

___"What do you want, Turk?" Cloud Strife asked in a dangerously calm voice._ _ _

___"Just to give you this." Elena dangled the pretty, blue gift bag and set it down at the table that the ex-SOLDIER was sitting at. He didn't move an inch to take the bag. Seeing this, Elena pleaded for him to open it._ _ _

___"Please?" When he still didn't move._ _ _

___"It took a lot of work to find this and it's really thoughtful and we all thought you might enjoy it." She babbled while pleading for the hero to, at very least, look at what they got for him._ _ _

___Cloud sighed, slightly softened his look, and took the frilly bag that was most likely picked by the woman in front of him. At least he hoped it was. Somehow, the thought of Rude or any of the others picking out something like this was slightly disturbing._ _ _

___Picking out the tissue paper, Cloud reached inside the bag and his hand hit something hard and cool. _Metal?_ He thought suspiciously and gave Elena a look. Her bright brown eyes just stared back in excitement, urging him to continue._ _ _

___Focusing his attention back on the object in his hand, Cloud pulled out a beautiful picture frame that was engraved with vines and flowers. However, it wasn't the picture frame that had him amazed, it was _who_ was in the picture._ _ _

___There, standing in front of a quaint house, was a blonde woman smiling shyly at the camera. Her hazel eyes were glittering warmly despite her shyness and one of her hands was up as if waving to someone. Her straight blonde hair was resting softly on her shoulders. Seeing the woman in the picture, looking happy and carefree made Cloud want to choke so that he could hold back the tears of happiness._ _ _

___"How did you get this picture?" He asked tightly, never taking his eyes off the picture._ _ _

___"We looked through the database and managed to find this. We printed it on photo paper and bought a frame for it." Elena explained._ _ _

___Cloud was silent for a few moments before he finally took his eyes off the picture and glanced at Elena._ _ _

___"Leave." He said._ _ _

___Elena surprisingly chose not to comment and left the bar with a small smile on her face. Cloud, however, went back to staring at the picture and then he headed up the stairs to his room. He set the picture frame on his desk next to the one of him and AVALANCHE and looked at it with mixed emotions._ _ _

___He felt happy and thankful that ShinRa actually had given him something that wasn't going to be his down fall. On the other hand, he was suspicious at what Rufus' intentions were. What was he playing at? _Though,_ Cloud thought. _It's nice to have something left of her_. He looked at the picture fondly with sorrow clear in his eyes. _I…never really had time to mourn for you. I'm sorry.__ _ _

___Mrs. Strife's warm hazel eyes looked back at her son forgivingly._ _ _

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _

___ _

___Tifa had questioned about the photo and looked at it in amazement for she remembered the shy yet headstrong single mother who shielded Cloud from the distrustful eyes of her own father. The young hero just shook his head and gave her a small but reassuring smile. She didn't question any further._ _ _

___However, Tifa did poke herself back into his business when she found Cloud reading a letter and looked as if he was going to break down at any moment._ _ _

___"Cloud, what is it? Who is it from?"_ _ _

___"Mr. and Mrs. Fair." He replied, his voice cracking slightly._ _ _

___"Your friend Zack's parents?"_ _ _

___Cloud nodded in affirmation and continued to read some of the letter._ _ _

___Furrowing her eyebrows in concern, she went over to Cloud to read the letter that they had sent, over his shoulder:_ _ _

____Dear Cloud,_ _ _ _

____We heard that you have been doing well and we are so glad. It is what Zack would have wanted and you have done his memory proud. On that note, we would like to say how grateful we are to you for keeping our son company all those years. We heard from a little bird that you haven't quite forgiven yourself for our Zack's death and we want you to know that we don't blame you. Never had and we never will. He always used to send home letters about you and his other friend Aerith (God rest her soul) about how happy you both made him. Thank you. Words cannot describe how thankful we are to you for keeping our baby boy happy and we can only hope this letter will uplift your spirits. We would love it if you came to visit us sometime with your friends and had dinner with us. We expect you to come and stay in touch!_ _ _ _

____With Love,_ _ _ _

____James and Elizabeth Fair_ _ _ _

____p.s. Here's our phone number xxx-xxx-xxxx_ _ _ _

___Tifa's eyes widened but soon went back to normal as she looked at Cloud with a soft smile. He needed something like this. Something to reassure him that no one ever blamed him. She believed that he accepted Aerith's forgiveness but never got the closure for Zack like he did with her._ _ _

___"Cloud? Are you alright?" Tifa decided to ask after a few moments of them both being silent._ _ _

___Cloud gave a short nod as he folded the letter delicately and place it into his pocket. Looking back at Tifa, he shot her a small smile that made her heart ache as she remembered a younger version of him giving the same expression._ _ _

___"I'm glad they wrote to me." He finally said although a bit hesitantly._ _ _

___"Though I am curious as to whom the 'little bird' was." Blue eyes looked at Tifa accusingly._ _ _

___The young woman put her hands on her hips and gave Cloud a slight glare._ _ _

___"Cloud Strife! How could I do that? I admit it was a sweet and thoughtful idea but I couldn't have done it without you noticing." She said, still giving her friend 'the look'._ _ _

___Cloud knew that Tifa couldn't have managed this, he just enjoyed teasing her once in a while. Yet, she had a point. First, she didn't know where the Fair's lived and couldn't have sent anything, even a letter to them. Second, she didn't have the resources. _But,_ He narrowed his eyes. _I know someone who does. But why would Rufus ShinRa go to the Fair's asking to write a letter to me?__ _ _

___The spiky haired man would never know but he would admit it was nice to receive a letter from them, even though Rufus most likely was behind it. Deciding to give the man the benefit of a doubt, he took out his cell phone and dialed the number that was given in the letter._ _ _

___"Hello?" Came a cheery woman's voice._ _ _

____I suppose I owe a thanks to you Rufus,_ Cloud thought as he greeted Elizabeth Fair and told her who he was. _But that still doesn't give you the right to butt into my life.__ _ _

___For the past couple weeks, Cloud had been talking to Mrs. Fair—"Call me Elizabeth, sweetie!"—and her husband. They would speak about everyday things such as the weather in Gongaga compared to Edge. However, other days would be awfully nostalgic as they shared their memories about Zack._ _ _

___It had been awkward at times, especially when Mrs. Fair would break down into tears and Mr. Fair had to take over the call, apologizing that they would call later._ _ _

___Thankfully, those moments were short lived because as soon those words would leave Mr. Fair's lips, Mrs. Fair would be demanding the phone from him. It seemed Zack had gotten his scatterbrain from his mother._ _ _

___Cloud had just gotten off the phone with Mr. Fair when he saw Tseng walk into the bar. The dark haired Turk caught sight of him and headed over to the counter where Cloud had been using the phone._ _ _

___"Hello, Cloud." Tseng nodded. Cloud gave a nod of his own but decided that the clear plastic box in Tseng's hands that was labeled TOP SECRET happened to be more interesting. Tseng noticed this and handed the box to him with an understanding expression._ _ _

___"I believe these rightfully belong to you. These items were both meant for Zack, but I firmly believe that he would have wanted you to have them. They've been in my desk for years." He explained._ _ _

___Cloud opened the plastic container and saw two military dog tags sitting on top of a stack of papers. He picked each of them up curiously and read them:_ _ _

____ANGEAL HEWLEY_ _ _ _

____I.D. # 000101191_ _ _ _

____ZACK FAIR_ _ _ _

____I.D. # 000122990_ _ _ _

___Cloud's heart stopped when he saw Zack's dog tag and began to flip the scratched piece of metal within his grasp. He put the military tag around his neck fondly, reveling in the fact that he had something else that belonged to his friend, before looking at the other one curiously. He couldn't recall ever knowing a Angel Hewley though the name seemed to ring a bell, no image came within his mind. Sensing Cloud's confusion, Tseng explained the second tag._ _ _

___"Angeal Hewley was the 1st Class SOLDIER that was a mentor to Zack. He was the one who passed down the Buster Sword to him and Zack to you. When Angeal…" Tseng paused as if remembering a painful memory._ _ _

___"…died, he gave his military tags to Zack. I have Zack's tag and his tag only because we were told to investigate the cliff where he died."_ _ _

___The Turk gave Cloud an uncomfortable look._ _ _

___"Zack was my friend also. I took the tags before any of infantrymen could take them. Please have them. They hold a lot of memories. Rufus was the one who suggested I give them to you." He finished and stared at the younger man, waiting for an outburst of rage._ _ _

___But, Cloud wasn't mad. He was even surprised that Tseng actually came here to give him the tags at all even if Rufus suggested it._ _ _

___"Thank you, Tseng. This means a lot to me. Tell—"_ _ _

___Cloud looked a bit uncomfortable._ _ _

___"—tell Rufus I said 'thank you' also."_ _ _

___Tseng gave the spiky haired hero a gentle smile._ _ _

___"Don't forget to read those letters in there." He nodded his head towards the plastic covered box._ _ _

___"They're from Aerith to Zack during those four years. There are eighty-eight of them and were given to me since Aerith did not know where he was."_ _ _

___Cloud picked up one of the letters and flipped it opened. A warm, flowery smell came from the paper. Tseng took this as his cue to leave._ _ _

___"Farewell, Cloud. I will leave you to your own devices." He said softly as he turned and walked out of 7th Heaven._ _ _

___Blue Mako eyes watched the head Turk leave before turning his gaze to the first line of the letter. It was in a spirally cursive that fit the gentle woman behind it._ _ _

____Dear Zack,_ _ _ _

____I hope you are having fun on your mission! I miss you already but don't worry Tseng is keeping me—_ _ _ _

____You are becoming quite the changed man, Rufus._ Cloud thought as he read the first letter. _These gifts deserve a reward. Maybe someday…__ _ _

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _

___ _

___"Cloud," Tifa's voice reached through the phone while he was on the road back to 7th heaven._ _ _

___"Can you come to the church please? I have something to show you."_ _ _

___"On my way." Cloud replied as he made a sharp turn on a street that would lead him to Aerith's church._ _ _

___After a couple of minutes, he arrived at Sector 5 that still bore damage from Meteor. Everything was ruined and destroyed, everything except her church that stood as a symbol of hope amongst the ruins._ _ _

___Cloud walked up to the large double doors and pushed one of them open. There standing, in front of the self-made pond from the Kadaj incident, was all of AVALANCHE, the Turks and finally Rufus. The young president looked mildly nervous as he stood in front of everyone and gestured for Cloud to come closer with a tiny smile placed on his lips._ _ _

___Everyone was silent as he approached Rufus though he swore he could hear the sound of teeth grinding and muttering from Barret and Cid's direction. He was probably right since he caught sight of Tifa giving them a stern look._ _ _

___As he got closer, Cloud met the eerie eyes of Vincent who merely looked bored but there was a tiny glint in them that he couldn't read, as if the ex-Turk knew something he didn't. Reno was too busy shifting in his place to bother even looking at Cloud while Rude stood next to his partner acting as a bodyguard to Rufus and a handler to Reno._ _ _

___Once Cloud reached Rufus, he looked up at the man that brought happiness back into his life for the past few weeks. Rufus looked immaculate as always with his white suit and nicely done hair but the spiky haired hero noticed the signs of fatigue due to the slight bags under his eyes. Even still, this didn't mar the sophisticated handsomeness the older seemed to have. Rufus produced a light cough that broke Cloud out of his straying thoughts._ _ _

___"Cloud, I asked you and your friends to come here for a specific reason. Your friends already know what lies in this church. It is my last gift to you in hopes of your forgiveness." He started as he gestured to the church around him._ _ _

___"The first couple weeks, I had been hoping for your forgiveness above all things. However, as the weeks went by, I have noticed that I enjoyed making you happy and I do not care whether or not you forgive me."_ _ _

___"Still likes to hear himself talk I see…" Cid muttered before Tifa elbowed him. Rufus continued as if he didn't hear the commotion from behind him._ _ _

___"Behind your friends and I lies my last gift. It honors you and your fallen friends Zack and Aerith. Everyone, if you will please step aside."_ _ _

___Like a sea, everyone began to part and gave Cloud a clear view of the pond and some of the fallen columns behind it. There, in front of his eyes and at the end of the pond stood Zack's Buster Sword. It was impaled into a column that rested amongst the brightly colored flowers that took home inside the church._ _ _

___The symbolism didn't escape his notice, especially after what Rufus said about honoring Aerith and Zack. With Zack's sword, being inside the church and amongst the very flowers Aerith took hard to keep; it showed that even in death, the couple would remain together._ _ _

___While Cloud was marveling at the sight, Rufus stood a few steps behind him waiting for a response. The hero turned around and stared at Rufus with the gentlest expression he had ever seen._ _ _

___"Thank you, for everything." Cloud finally whispered as he made eye contact with the young ShinRa._ _ _

___"This is more than what I or they could ask for. Thank you."_ _ _

___"You are more than welcomed, Cloud." Rufus replied, liking the taste of Cloud's name on his lips and gladly stared back into the beautiful Mako colored eyes._ _ _

___"Now tha' ya girls are all done weepin' and shit, can we get to th' party now?" Cid's loud and obnoxious voice broke their 'moment'._ _ _

___Turning around sharply, as he forget they were there, he met the amused looks on his friends' faces and glanced towards the left of them and saw food and refreshments._ _ _

___Chuckling, Rufus managed to answer the question for him._ _ _

___"By all means do, Mr. Highwind. No one is keeping you from the food."_ _ _

___"Damn right they ain't!" He snapped back as he made his way over to the food with Reno who was two steps ahead of him._ _ _

___Everyone watched in amusement as Barret ran over with his friend and the three began fighting over a piece of cake._ _ _

___"Let go ya damn street rat! I saw this first!"_ _ _

___"Well, guess you were too slow old man since I clearly have it!" the red head sniped back, trying to protect the cake he managed to hoard._ _ _

___When everyone was satisfied, happy, and started to intermingle, Rufus took this chance to pull Cloud outside to speak with him alone without any interruptions. For the first few moments, they just looked at each other silently and awkwardly until Rufus decided to start the conversation._ _ _

___"Everything that I did these past few weeks, have I succeeded in the task of making you happy, Cloud?"_ _ _

___Cloud raised an eyebrow at the forwardness but answered nonetheless._ _ _

___"You have but I thought you were striving for forgiveness. Besides, you have done too much for me." _Almost to the point where I feel like I owe you._ Yet, he would never say that part aloud._ _ _

___"Like I said before, making you happy seemed like a much better goal than the first one I had. But, if it would allow you to feel better, there is something that you could do for me." Rufus said slyly as if he had read the other's mind._ _ _

___Cloud on the other hand, looked furious as his soft expression switched to a cold one as he looked at the man in front of him. He should have known that the sneaky bastard wanted something for all his actions. Should have kept his distan— _is he getting closer?_ Were the words that ran through Cloud's thoughts as Rufus gently took hold of his chin and tilted it up so that he had better access to the hero's lips._ _ _

___This came as a shock to the spiky haired man as for one, he never had gotten a kiss from a guy before and two, it was Rufus ShinRa. All of this caused Cloud's mind to go blank as he attempted to process what was happening._ _ _

___Rufus had his lips pressed furiously against Cloud's unresponsive ones and just as quick as the kiss happened, it stopped. Rufus pulled away, but not before giving Cloud's lips an affectionate lick while the younger man just stood there dazed._ _ _

___Regaining his senses, Cloud stepped away and turned to head towards Fenrir with a certain determination, leaving Rufus standing there in the same spot and watching him walk away. Straitening out his tailored white coat, he gathered what pride he had left and walked steadily towards his awaiting helicopter._ _ _

___Possibly, he made a mistake by daring to kiss the jaded hero. _I would say that it had been worth it._ Rufus thought wickedly as he experimentally licked his bottom lip._ _ _

___"Hey boss man! The 'copter is all ready to go!" Reno's voice called out, breaking through the young president's thoughts._ _ _

___It seemed while they were, ah, busy; everyone was getting ready to leave. Thank goodness that they were behind a piece of rubble._ _ _

___"I'm free tomorrow night." He heard a smooth voice call out from behind him. Rufus turned around and saw Cloud sitting on his bike casually, raising one eyebrow at him with his arms crossed._ _ _

___"I am busy." The ShinRa president smirked at Cloud, widening his eyes and his mouth drooping slightly._ _ _

___He thought smugly._ _ _

___"But I am sure I can fit the Planet's savior in at let's say 6:00pm on Friday night?"_ _ _

___Cloud's face went back to normal and then he shot a tiny smirk right back at Rufus and nodded._ _ _

___"I expect to be picked up. I'm not wasting gas."_ _ _

___"I expect you to be dressed formally, then."_ _ _

___"Deal."_ _ _

___They both looked at each other once more before they went their respective ways, each wearing a small smile._ _ _

____Who would have thought that Rufus ShinRa would be capable of giving things of sentimental value?_ Cloud thought as he rode off towards Edge. _Though, if I think about it, he is still that prissy little bastard I first met all those years ago.__ _ _

___Cloud caught the mental image of Rufus' small, but genuine smile flittering through head, which caused his own lips to curve upward._ _ _

____With a smile like that, I bet he could have controlled the Planet the way he wanted to. That smile of his…it's addicting._ _ _ _

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ _

___ _

___As Rufus buckled his seatbelt on the helicopter, Reno shot his boss a mischievous grin._ _ _

___"So…" He started casually while the president looked up at the second in command._ _ _

___"I see that you and Cloudy boy there are pretty close, now."_ _ _

___"I did do all those things for his forgiveness, Reno. It was why you were sent on those missions in the first place." Rufus replied wryly, unbothered by the canary-eating grin that widened on the red head's face._ _ _

___"Yeah, but one would think that you were _awfully_ generous. One might even dare to say that you were acting very romantically." He jibbed some more._ _ _

___"If I was, as you suggest, 'acting romantically', Reno, it would be more than you have ever done in the past year." His sharp blue eyes looked back at his Turk challengingly as he raised a delicate eyebrow._ _ _

___"In fact, I'll be getting a lot more on Friday night than you could have ever hoped for. Not that it is any of your business."_ _ _

___Reno just continued to smirk at him and couldn't resist adding._ _ _

___"Does that mean every time that you'll see a chocobo, that you'll think raunchy thoughts of our dear precious hero?"_ _ _

___"Remember who signs your paychecks, Reno." Rufus remarked casually as he gave the red head a pointed look._ _ _

___Thankfully, Reno was quiet the rest of the trip and opted to take a nap in Rude's lap, using the other man's jacket as a blanket. Seeing this, the president gave Rude an inquiring look. The bald man shrugged._ _ _

___"You put up with a lot of crazy things when you're in love." He said._ _ _

___Rufus nodded and couldn't help but to agree._ _ _

____My father must be rolling over in his grave at what I'm doing. Giving without taking! And enjoying it!_ He mused fondly as he smirked at the thought of his father suffering after death. _Nevertheless, it was worth it. Just to see that rare genuine smile on Cloud's face.__ _ _


End file.
